| Archived Save the Train forum articles - 2005 to 2010. See below
West Wilts services from Dec '07 - FGW presentation - 4386/8127 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Wednesday, 10th October 2007 Following notes made during a presentation last night by Andrew Griffiths of FGW Changes to remove "bunching" of trains on some routes, to improve connections, and to improve robustness. * Westbury / Weymouth locals now carry on to Cheltenham area * Taunton to Cheltenham area diverted to Cardiff * Abbey Wood terminators extend to Parkway * 3 extra (early morning and evening) Avonmouth trains * Cardiff to Portsmouth trains stop at Bradford-on-Avon as standard As the presentation was made at Westbury, Andrew Griffiths gave us a rundown of daily services from that station as from December. 12 a day toLondon (Paddington) 2 an hour to Bristol Hourly to Portsmouth 8 extra a day "via Warminster" - some just to Warminster and others to Southampton and Brighton 8 a day to Weymouth 2 a day to Swindon He mentions that although they have managed to make a lot of other improvements, the service to Swindon "has to stay the same". And they will "try again later" on that one. {{Where have I heard that story before}} Either I failed to note the number of services to Taunton and beyond, or Andrew wasn't specific on it ... Re: West Wilts services from Dec '07 - FGW presentation - 4386/8128 Written by Lee on Wednesday, 10th October 2007 I think that we should also mention Andrew's words on the enhanced Severn Beach Line service , due to come into effect from May 2008 : - The extra train will be one of the 12 Class 142 units. - The extra services will be classed as a commercial venture , part - funded by Bristol City Council. This means that they fall outside of the franchise remit , and thus do not require permission from the DfT (except the lease of the extra train itself , which the DfT have underwritten.) Re: West Wilts services from Dec '07 - FGW presentation - 4386/8137 Written by admin (Graham Ellis) on Wednesday, 10th October 2007 Lee, I understood slighly differently on the class of unit. I understood that all class 142 units were to be based in Exeter. Although there's a 142 unit "marked down" for the Avonmouth run - the 12th of 12 they're hiring rather than the 11 initially planned - that 12th unit will most likely displace a 143 from the Exeter area and it would be the 143 on the Avonmouths. Re: West Wilts services from Dec '07 - FGW presentation - 4386/8140 Written by Lee on Wednesday, 10th October 2007 [quote author=Graham Ellis link=topic=4386.msg8137#msg8137 date=1192021344] Lee, I understood slighly differently on the class of unit. Re: West Wilts services from Dec '07 - FGW presentation - 4386/8148 Written by Industry Insider on Wednesday, 10th October 2007 Is there any marked difference between a 142 and a 143? ??? Re: West Wilts services from Dec '07 - FGW presentation - 4386/8155 Written by Lee on Thursday, 11th October 2007 [quote author=Industry Insider link=topic=4386.msg8148#msg8148 date=1192049337] Is there any marked difference between a 142 and a 143? ??? [/quote] Judge for yourselves (links below.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_142 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_143 link to index of articles |
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Save the Train was the campaign to bring an approriate train service back to and through Melksham. Most big contributors are still around writing at the Coffee shop forum where new members are very welcome. The train has been saved - sort of - we have stepped back up from an unusable service to a poorish one but it's doing very well. We did that through setting up the TransWilts Community Rail Partnership. That fulfilled its early objectives; it has been taken over by local and regional government types who are now doing medium and long term work. The team from this forun can also be found at the Melksham Rail User Group (which was the Melksham Rail Development Group at the time these articles were written and we had no users. We mustn't loose sight, though, that the train service remains poor and needs our community support in marketing and campaigning to keep it going in a positive direction ... and all the more so when we're expecting to find a different normallity once we get out of the Coronavirus Pandemic and head for zero carbon via the climate crisis. Yes, it's saved ... it's now a key community facility ... the need for enhancement and the strong and near-universal local support remain, and the rail industry and goverment remain slow to move and provide the enhancements even to level us up with other towns. Please support the Melksham Rail User Group - now very much in partnership rather than protest with the rail industry and local government, including GWR, TransWilts and unitary and town councils. And please use the trains and buses, and cycle and walk when you can. -- Graham Ellis, (webmaster), February 2021 | |||
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